NASCAR’s regular-season bookend is poised to deliver another memorable finish.
One hundred and ninety-five days after commencing the 2026 campaign with the Daytona 500, the Cup Series returns to the Floridian high banks, with drivers hungry to make one last push toward the postseason.
But this regular-season finale looks different than others. For starters, series officials are implementing a new package headlined by a shorter spoiler and reduced horsepower, all intended to increase passing opportunities amid the draft and reduce fuel savings. The points implications, while still crucial for teams at both ends of the spectrum, aren’t as conspicuous with the reintroduction of The Chase format — which eliminates the last-ditch win-and-you’re-in scenario offered by the previous playoff format.
That said, this is still superspeedway racing. Unpredictability clashes with skill and controlled chaos. The aura and spectacle remain unparalleled as drivers search for career-altering victories amid the humid ocean breeze. And when Cup Series stars hit the track Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), it’ll remain anyone’s game.
New postseason format, same Daytona.
It doesn’t matter what the stakes are — expect a late caution. Just one of the last 18 Daytona races has ended with a green-flag stretch longer than eight laps. In nine of the last 11 races here, the eventual winner led 10 or fewer laps, with three leading only the final lap. Each of the last four races at the track has resulted in a last-lap pass, including Tyler Reddick’s thrilling victory in the “Great American Race” in February. Narrowing it down to the summer race alone, no stage winner has ever gone on to win the 160-lap event. Twelve of the last 18 summer Daytona races required overtime, including four of the last six.
The last time the Coke Zero Sugar 400 went into overtime? 2024, when Harrison Burton became the fourth driver since 2018 to score his first career Cup win in that race, earning the 100th victory for famed Wood Brothers Racing in the No. 21 Ford. The triumph secured Burton a postseason spot just weeks after learning he wouldn’t return to the organization in 2025.
And coincidentally, the current Wood Brothers driver faces similar circumstances. Josh Berry revealed in June that he won’t return to the team next season, with his NASCAR future uncertain. He enters Daytona on a career-best four-race top-10 streak, maintaining an average finish of 5.5 in that stretch and improving his points position from 33rd to 29th. Last weekend at New Hampshire, Berry arguably had the best car, leading a career-high 73 laps before finishing on the Loudon podium for the second consecutive year.
Unlike Burton, Berry is a previous Cup Series winner with a Las Vegas triumph in his pocket last year. The industry notion is that winning takes care of problems, so with career pressure ratcheting up, an opportunity for a life-changing win still exists — even without a postseason pathway.
New format, same Daytona.
Kevin C. Cox | Getty Images
But yes, even without win-and-you’re-in stakes to stir the playoff pot, a few final Chase spots remain up for grabs. Five drivers remain mathematically eligible for three remaining postseason positions: Bubba Wallace (plus-75), Austin Cindric (plus-44), Shane van Gisbergen (plus-31), Ryan Preece (minus-31) and Brad Keselowski (minus-66).
Notably, Preece is among nine full-time drivers without a win at NASCAR’s highest level. Daytona will mark his 249th start in the Cup Series, spread across five different organizations, and his 34 drafting-track starts without a win are the sixth most among entered drivers. Preece finished ninth last weekend at Loudon, shaving 19 points off his deficit to SVG. To make The Chase, his simplest path is outscoring van Gisbergen by 32 markers, something he’s done twice this season: Las Vegas (32) and Naval Base Coronado (44). He’s earned the 10th-most stage points on drafting tracks this year, a number that plays into the No. 60 RFK Racing driver’s favor.
Of course, winning would be most beneficial. He proved his prowess with an exhibition triumph at Bowman Gray Stadium in the spring, and with victories paying an additional 15 points compared to the playoff format, a Daytona dub would heighten the tension for SVG while allowing Preece to finally break through at the sport’s grandest arena.
New format, same Daytona.
Further up the standings, several key micro-battles exist, which will determine final Chase seeding. It’s pretty straightforward: the higher a driver finishes in the regular season, the greater the advantage they will receive over the field for the 10-race postseason run. Denny Hamlin clinched the No. 1 seed with a seventh-place Loudon effort, guaranteeing he’ll start The Chase with 2,100 points — 25 more than the No. 2 seed.
But the other 15 seeds aren’t set in stone, even with 13 drivers already locked into The Chase. The potential points swings are endless, and really quite remarkable. Fifth to eighth in the standings are separated by just 31 points, while ninth to 14th are 52 points apart.
Kyle Larson, currently seventh in the series ranks after crucial consecutive top-six efforts at Richmond and Loudon, could surge as high as fifth but also drop as low as 12th after Daytona. That’s a 35-point difference in seeding — 2,055 points to 2,020 points. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, 12th in points, could improve to seventh or could fall as low as 16th. That’s a 45-point difference in seeding — 2,045 points to 2,000. Cindric, who’s fighting for his Chase life, could start the postseason as high as 12th or could plummet as low as 20th — far out of the championship equation.
These battles carried less weight during the playoff era, when accumulating playoff points was paramount. The Chase opens a Pandora’s box of key Daytona battles — primarily among drivers with true championship aspirations, not just last-ditch winners. And the aggression level will remain unrivaled as drivers jockey for crucial postseason positioning.
New format, same Daytona.
Just think about all the stakes … and, oh, yeah … they’ll unfold with a never-before-run superspeedway package and precisely zero minutes of practice. Talk about another wrinkle to an already wild-card event. Handling will be at a premium as cars hit the high-speed draft for the first time in race conditions. Drivers won’t know how their cars balance until actually making moves when it counts, forcing trust in their machines and their talent.
That new package could create even more parity than past Daytona races. The 2.5-mile oval has delivered more first-time winners than any track (24), nearly doubling the total at Talladega Superspeedway, a comparable track. Daytona also leads the way in overtime finishes with 25.
And all of that’s to say 400 miles under the Daytona Beach lights could ultimately become a microcosm of the 2026 season so far. Twenty different drivers have won stages. The season’s 587 lead changes are the fifth-most all time through 25 races. Three 23-year-olds won their first races: Ty Gibbs (Bristol), Carson Hocevar (Talladega) and Corey Heim (Naval Base Coronado), matching the number of first-time winners from the previous three years combined. The winning pass came in the final eight laps in eight of the last 17 races.
Surely, the implications are different this Saturday when the Cup Series returns to the “World Center of Racing,” but the pressure remains just as high.
Both the NASCAR Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series host their regular-season finales at the famed Daytona International Speedway. There will be one DNQ from both series, as Cup has 41 entries for 40 spots and O’Reilly has 39 entries for 38 spots. There will be two rounds in both qualifying sessions, with the top 10 speeds in Round 1 advancing to compete for the pole. See qualifying orders for both series this weekend.
Through the years, some of the best and brightest Modified racers have called Stafford Speedway home.
Legends like Bugsy Stevens, Richie Evans, Fred DeSarro, Geoff Bodine, Reggie Ruggiero, Charlie Jarzombek, Mike Stefanik and Ted Christopher are among those who have claimed track championships at the historic half-mile oval located in Stafford Springs, Connecticut.
Fast-forward to today, and Stafford continues to be a proving ground for future NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour stars. Many of the series’ current crop of competitors have honed their skills at Stafford before hitting the road with the Modified Tour.
As NASCAR’s oldest division prepares to return to Stafford for the first time since 2021 this Friday night for the running of the GAF 150 (8:45 p.m. ET on FloRacing and the NASCAR Channel), several modern stars will hope to turn their experience into a trip to Victory Lane.
Take Stephen Kopcik for example. The Newtown, Connecticut native is an 18-time feature winner at Stafford. Amongst his successes is a victory in one of the track’s marquee events, the 2025 Spring Sizzler. Ten years earlier, he captured the SK Light track championship at Stafford.
Another prime example is six-time Modified Tour champion Doug Coby. He’s a two-time track champion at Stafford in the Late Model and Pro Stock divisions and a 12-time Modified Tour winner at the track. He’s also a four-time Spring Sizzler champion.
Mike Christopher Jr. practically grew up racing at Stafford. Following in the footsteps of his late uncle Ted and his father Mike, the newest member of the Christopher racing clan is a 28-time Stafford winner across multiple classes.
Two of the Modified Tour’s newest stars can also include their names on the list of Stafford Speedway champions. Andrew Molleur conquered Stafford’s SK Modified division in 2024, and Teddy Hodgdon collected the SK Light Modified championship in 2019.
Ronnie Williams, a part-time Modified Tour competitor, is another driver who is no stranger to Stafford. He collected consecutive SK Modified championships in 2018-19 at Stafford.
Of the 25 drivers entered in Friday’s GAF 150, 16 have visited Victory Lane at some point at Stafford. It further supports the notion that if you can win at Stafford, you can win anywhere.
Austin Beers now finds himself tied with Patrick Emerling at the top of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings with four races left in the season. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Championship battle heats up with four races left
Following an unpredictable Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend, the race for the Modified Tour championship is as close as could be.
Following an early crash that resulted in a last-place finish for Patrick Emerling, he is now tied with defending series champion Austin Beers at the top of the standings entering Friday’s GAF 150 at Stafford.
Beers seems to have found his stride in the last few events. He finished second at White Mountain Motorsports Park after leading 80 laps, which he backed up with a third-place effort at Monadnock Speedway after leading 50 laps.
Beers finishes second at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park after starting from the pole and leading 29 circuits. He then won the pole again at New Hampshire and led 32 laps before a late spin dropped him to 19th.
Emerling has equaled his career high with three victories this year and has led a series-best 348 laps through the first dozen races. Also in the conversation is Jon McKennedy, who finds himself only 24 points behind the leaders thanks to his third victory of the year last weekend at New Hampshire.
With events at Stafford, Oswego Speedway, Riverhead Raceway and Thompson remaining on the schedule, anything can happen as the battle for the series championship comes down to the wire.
Mike Christopher Jr. is one of many Modified Tour drivers with ample experience at Stafford Speedway. (Photo: Jaiden Tripi/NASCAR)
Christopher eyes continued family success at Stafford
When you look at the list of all-time winners at Stafford Speedway, the Christopher family is well represented.
Sitting at the top of the record books is Ted Christopher, a 131-time winner at Stafford across all divisions. The late Modified Tour legend is also a nine-time champion in the track’s SK Modified, with his first title coming in 1987 and his final championship coming in 2014.
Then there’s his twin brother Mike, who captured Stafford’s SK Modified championship three times between 1989 and 1993 and is a 28-time feature winner at the half-mile asphalt oval.
Now there’s Mike’s son, Mike Christopher Jr. The driver of the No. 31 Elite Racing Modified on the Modified Tour is also a 28-time winner at Stafford during his young career, with his most recent win coming just a few weeks ago.
If you’re looking for a favorite ahead of Friday’s GAF 150, it would be hard to bet against Mike Christopher Jr. After all, he’s been looking forward to this race all year.
“The Tour deserves to be at Stafford. It’s what it’s known for,” Mike Christopher Jr. said. “You think of the Tour, you think of the Northeast and New England, and when you think of Modified racing, you think of Stafford.”
The most powerful website in NASCAR during the nascent days of the Internet was operated out of a tiny yellow and orange bedroom near the Jersey Shore.
It started as a side project in a college computer lab.
Its mysteriously unusual but extremely catchy name was derived from its founder, who wrangled carts while loading C-5s as a crew chief in the U.S. Air Force.
Jayski.com
Jay Adamczyk kept correcting a tech sergeant’s pronunciation of his last name to “A-DAM-sick” from “A-DAM-ski” when being summoned on the base radio.
“He was like, ‘Hell, we’re going to call you ‘Jayski’ then,’ ” Adamczyk said with a laugh. “All I heard was, ‘Hey Jayski, we need a cart.’ Then it kind of just laid dormant until I started the site. Who would have known?”
The nickname morphed into a moniker that became omnipresent in stock-car racing during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
At its peak, Jayski’s Silly Season Site drew close to 100 million page views annually and became the indispensable best source for NASCAR information. It was a favorite of the late Kyle Busch, who gleefully checked daily in the offseason for paint scheme releases.
“I used to pull up Jayski every day,” Kevin Harvick said in 2019. “That was really where I went to get all my racing news.”
The site’s improbable success story is hard to fully comprehend without having lived in the moment when NASCAR champions, reporters and die-hard fans spent a significant portion of their days constantly refreshing a spartan website sporting yellow-and-black overtones and an emphasis on goofy clip art-style smiley faces.
“Jay just caught lightning in a bottle for some reason,” said Scott Page, who joined Jayski in 2006 and now oversees its daily operations. “None of it makes sense. How he started it, how it got traffic, how somebody decided to email him. It was really organic the way it developed, although the site had everything you could ever want in it. It was overwhelming.
“But how he did it, I don’t know that you could ever explain it.”
Jayski celebrates its 30th anniversary today after surviving its rockiest decade.
The rise of digital and social media and the decline of traditional media fundamentally affected some of the core attractions of Jayski, which blended a heavy dose of rumormongering with well-curated links to stories by the best beat journalists covering NASCAR.
Bought by ESPN 20 years ago, Jayski went dark in January 2019 for four months. ESPN soon returned the site and its URL to Adamczyk (whose request to reclaim ownership was granted at no charge).
The resurrected Jayski aligned with NASCAR Digital Media in May 2019 and has enjoyed a seven-year renaissance.
Once known as the place where fans flocked to read hourly rumors (often unverified) about which drivers were getting fired and hired, Jayski is now a trusted repository for recalling the paint schemes and headlines of bygone eras.
Its voluminous archives are housed across more than 100,000 posts, pages and images, and the site still churns out more than 2,000 news items annually.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Adamczyk said. “I never expected it to last 30 years.”
Simplicity that even a mother could love
Adamczyk launched Jayski as a basic tribute to favorite driver Ernie Irvan, fulfilling a class assignment to create a webpage as he learned HTML coding. Fans emailed him with questions about the status of other drivers, so he created a team chart to track their movement and rechristened the site as “Jayski’s Silly Season” on Aug. 26, 1996.
Shortly before starting the site, Adamczyk had moved back in with his parents near Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he worked as a contractor for the FAA on Y2K computer programming. Until he moved to Mooresville, North Carolina, in 2004, Adamczyk ran Jayski out of his little sister’s former bedroom, which was barely large enough for a computer and TV amid its garish 12- by 18-foot walls.
“I eventually had to paint it,” he said. “I couldn’t work in that.”
Adamczyk loves Internet searching (AltaVista was his web crawler of choice in the early days) and falling down rabbit holes while researching arcane trivia. His curiosity sparked Jayski’s first big traffic win.
He stumbled across a page on the University of Nebraska website about sponsoring the Melling Racing car driven by Lake Speed. The link was posted on Jayski and drew an unheard-of 10,000 views within a month (as well as an email from Speed).
“That was probably the first thing I put up that no one else really knew about,” Adamczyk said. “I just happened to be hunting around, and that was the fun part: Searching around the Internet trying to find stuff you didn’t see anyplace else.”
He built readership traction by sharing Jayski’s unique content in the newsgroup message boards that were ubiquitous in the pre-Google era.
His posting methods are considered primitive now. There was no content management system, and Adamczyk posted everything through HTML (which he still uses when working on the site, even though Jayski is now operated through WordPress). Because of its limited bandwidth, the site consisted mainly of easy-to-load links and headers.
Page was told that the design was geared toward Adamczyk’s mother, who read the site daily (and often informed her son of his spelling errors).
“He wanted simplicity because he wanted his mother to be able to know where to find information,” Page said. “You don’t want to bury things under three sublinks. There may have been a hundred links on the old main Jayski page, but you knew it was all there. We’ve tried to keep that as best as we can. ‘Keep it simple, stupid’ is still kind of the theory.”
As traffic grew beyond Adamczyk’s immediate family, so did the tips with news and nuggets.
He estimated getting 100 daily emails from NASCAR sources (and laments having lost access to most of the messages after changing servers so many times).
He tried to respond to and verify as many as possible amid 15-hour workdays, seven days a week.
“It was totally by the seat of my pants every day,” he said. “I sort of had a little bit of a schedule, but nothing written down.”
Until Page was hired as his right-hand man (and the “designated survivor” for ESPN, which worried what would become of Jayski if anything happened to its workaholic founder), Adamczyk never took a full day off while running the site as a one-man band from 1996-2005.
His laptop accompanied him on ski vacations to the Italian Alps or sightseeing tours to the San Francisco Bay. He built many of the site’s team pages during a trans-Atlantic flight (“back then, you could work offline”).
Adamczyk focused heavily on updating the “Article/Story Links” page, which was inspired by the “Law and Order” show (“I heard, ‘Here are their stories’ and thought that was cool.’ ”).
The comprehensive list of breaking news and feature stories by NASCAR beat reporters at newspapers around the country was an agenda-setter. Reporters emailed Adamczyk to highlight their work and then stayed up until midnight as their stories made the site’s last refresh of the day. (He usually worked until 2 a.m.)
“I would just try to get some kind of news up every day,” he said. “I’d save some things so people had something to read.”
When Adamczyk quit his job to work on the site full time in 1999, he briefly considered buying a new domain name to rebrand the site.
“I put a poll out there and Jayski.com won overwhelmingly,” he said. “After that, I never really thought about changing it.”
Give me the paint schemes, not the spotlight
During a mid-2000s induction ceremony for the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame that was emceed by Benny Parsons, the spotlight suddenly shifted onto a surprised Adamczyk.
“There’s someone in the house that you all might know,” Parsons said. “Here’s Jayski!”
Adamczyk was briefly mortified.
“I”m like, ‘Oh crap,’ ” he said. “And then everyone gave me a big ovation.”
The rest of the evening was spent taking photos with fans and meeting with NASCAR industry members. The extended family of Wood Brothers Racing were among his biggest admirers. Darrell Waltrip greeted him with a big hug.
“He’s like, ‘I read your stuff every day before I get on the air, so I know what the hell I’m doing,’ ” Adamczyk said. “All that was kind of cool.”
It was a rare instance of personal interaction with the people that he devoted his life to detailing.
The race track was the least likely place you’d find Adamczyk, who hasn’t attended a NASCAR event in 15 years.
When he went, it was usually as a dignitary — a fan Q&A with Ricky Rudd at Las Vegas Motor Speedway or the Grand Marshal of an ARCA race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The main appeal of being at the track was taking photos of cars and their liveries from multiple angles. He tried working a few times in media centers but was discouraged by unreliable Wi-Fi and hours that weren’t conducive to a night owl.
Plus, there was the awkward feeling of being surrounded by laptops all open to Jayski and being checked constantly for news.
“It was surreal,” he said. “A lot of people would come up and talk to me. ‘Are you really Jayski?’ I’m like, ‘Yep.’ ”
Some big scoops were owned by Jayski, which appeared annually in early 2000s on the Charlotte Observer’s list of the 25 most influential people, places and things in NASCAR.
After being announced to head Dodge’s entry to Cup in 2001, Ray Evernham joked with reporters, “I’m going to do a lot of things. Don’t you read Jayski?”
But there were also some huge misses. When Jayski reported that Budweiser was considering a sponsor reunion with Waltrip, the driver’s business manager sent a categorical denial.
On July 5, 1999, Jayski cited sources at Richard Childress Racing confirming the impending release of Mike Skinner. The next day, the team said Skinner was expected to be re-signed.
“Richard Childress wanted to kill me at one time,” said Adamczyk, who eventually made peace with the team owner in a chance meeting at his winery.
Those dynamics have changed in the age of teams controlling the message through social media channels.
“Most of the teams want to work with you now, especially our site,” he said. “You’re not going to get the rumors like you used to because the teams will put them out before then.”
Page, who staffs Jayski with Dustin Albino and Amanda Brooks, said the goal is emphasizing its historical treasure troves while staying true to its roots as a focal point for modern-day information.
“Jayski was known as a rumor site, but now I consider it through all those years to have been more of a clearinghouse,” Page said. “It took all this information from other sites, and all those sites have gone away. So, we’ve at least got the mention of what was posted. The links are bad, but there’s still that record of history.”
Adamczyk, who will turn 65 later this year, has downshifted his involvement but still works on Jayski’s stats section.
“Stats aren’t a big draw. I pretty much do it because I enjoy it and want to keep it updated,” he said. “That’s kind of the point of the site: Helping people find info.”
The 2027 schedule for NASCAR’s three national series came into full view Wednesday, with the remaining dates on a variety-packed list now set for next year’s racing calendar.
A steady, track-by-track flow of announcements this month helped connect the dots for a host of returning favorites, strategic date shifts and a new-look Chase postseason slate. The full schedule arrives just days before this year’s regular-season finales for both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
“I would say, you know, first and foremost, certainly a lot of work as we announce a schedule each year that goes in collaboration with the entire industry, whether it’s broadcast partners, race teams, drivers, gathering a lot of information from our fans and helping us develop the schedule,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer. “And it’s an iterative process, because as we’ve shared in the past, we’ve made decisions that haven’t always panned out. We’ve also made other decisions that have been huge successes for the schedule, and this is the next step and the next iteration of it. So, a handful of big changes, but certainly proud of the work that’s gone into the schedule.”
Seven tracks heralded their return to the schedule Wednesday: Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 28-30 for Coca-Cola 600 weekend, plus Oct. 15-17 in The Chase), Nashville Superspeedway (June 4-6), Michigan International Speedway (June 19-20), Lime Rock Park (July 10), Sonoma Raceway (July 10-11), Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (July 23) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 24-25). Additionally, Watkins Glen International firmed up its dates — Sept. 17-19 — after previously announcing a return to The Chase rotation.
The schedule was the result of wide collaboration and team effort, but Kennedy noted the leadership of Julie Giese throughout the last year in her role as NASCAR Vice President, Market Development & Strategic Scheduling. Giese’s experience as a track president who helped revitalize Phoenix Raceway and brought the Chicago Street Race to life during its three-year run helped sharpen her guidance when it came to shaping an interlocking schedule with nearly 100 races across three national series.
“I think it’s honestly been a really fun experience for me, and I mean, I’ve been with this company for 26 years and I’ve learned so much about our sport and our industry in the last year, honestly, than I have in my other roles,” Giese said. “It’s been really good to see a different part of our sport and how the schedule comes together, and to Ben’s point, all the stakeholders that come together to be part of this, whether it’s our race teams to the different tracks, to our independent track partners, the broadcast partners, but there’s so many different stakeholders and it’s been really fun to learn how the schedule impacts them and how it drives their decisions.”
The most recent significant piece to the 2027 puzzle came Tuesday with the announcement that NASCAR will return to San Diego for an encore at Naval Base Coronado. The first edition this past June marked the first time the circuit had competed on an active military base, and the temporary 3.4-mile street course provided striking views along the San Diego Bay, including a drive past the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier at trackside.
This year’s announcement includes the news of an agreement with the potential to rotate the event to other military installations in 2028 and beyond, but first comes an opportunity to enhance the showcase race in Year 2.
“This year was the first of its kind,” Kennedy said. “We’ve never had a race on a military installation before, so a lot of learnings, but also a huge success in the summer months for us to be able to go to a military base on the 250th anniversary of the country and the Navy and put on what we thought were three really compelling races across the race weekend and have a lot of active military members join us on Friday as well for Military Day.”
Another return to the 2027 schedule is the next phase of a revival from earlier this season, when Chicagoland Speedway returned to the racing calendar after a seven-year break. The 1.5-mile track’s rebirth reaffirmed the sport’s place in the Midwest, traveling an hour south of the Windy City after three years of the Chicago Street Race.
“I think when you look at Chicagoland this year after not racing there since 2019, the weekend itself, I think it’s all safe to say it exceeded its expectations,” Giese said. “I mean, a sellout crowd, the racing was absolutely phenomenal, and just a lot of enthusiasm and energy for that event, and I think the thing that we learned was the fact that when you look at who was attending the Chicago Street Race the past three years versus who attended Chicagoland Speedway, it was quite a different crowd, and so if anything, it showed us that this market can accommodate two different races if needed. So I think as we were looking at the schedule, knowing the success that Chicagoland Speedway had, making sure that that was going to be on the schedule moving forward.”
Giese said Chicagoland’s placement back on the 2027 schedule doesn’t necessarily spell the end of the Chicago street-circuit race. The downtown event experienced a wide range of developments — a festival atmosphere, a new group of attendees and weather challenges — during its three-year run, and she said that talks continue about potentially renewing it in the future.
“We’re going to continue the conversations, and will say we really just ran out of time to be able to get something done, knowing we needed to get our schedule out,” said Giese, who maintains a Chicago office. “We have great relationships with the city of Chicago, whether it’s the mayor’s office, city council, as well as all the different stakeholders and organizations that I think would like to see NASCAR back in downtown, but there’s obviously a lot of things that have to come together for that to occur. So we’ll continue the conversation, see where that leads us in the future.”
Homestead-Miami Speedway — another intermediate-sized track — will cap the 2027 season, a schedule slot that it will also occupy this year for the first time since 2019. The South Florida venue is in the midst of a revitalization project, one that Kennedy says he’s received regular updates about the progress, including demolition, fresh paint and a reimagined entrance.
“It’s just going to feel like a new facility,” Kennedy said, “and we agreed as we were looking at a lot of line items, it’s not the most fun thing to do, but anytime you repaint a new house or a new building, or as we’ve seen some other race tracks, it feels like a newer facility. So it’ll be a fresh coat of paint on it, and renovations are currently underway. The focus on the main entryway to Homestead-Miami Speedway, if any fans have attended there before, you know how confusing it is to find the main entrance to the track and how it’s buried a bit. Frankly, the midway and activation areas were a bit daunting to also navigate as well, so we’re going to blow all of that out. We’re going to have a much larger midway space as fans walk in, a main entry gate.
“If people have been to other entry gates like at Daytona or Phoenix, we’ll have a similar vibe and atmosphere to that, and then also working on improving a lot of our suites and hospitality areas, which are quite dated as well, so excited about the project. It’s been a pretty large one, investing roughly $20 million that will go into it, and everything — knock on wood — is on track to have it unveiled before championship weekend.”
While Homestead-Miami will end the season, another longtime Florida venue will kick it off. The preseason Wheatley Vodka Clash goes back to its roots at Daytona International Speedway in 2027 for a Saturday night exhibition Feb. 13.
The Clash has rotated in recent years since it was last held at Daytona — on the 2.5-mile oval in 2020 and then on the oval/road-course configuration in 2021. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum served as Clash host from 2022-24 before the event shifted to Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for the last two editions.
Those experiences, Giese said, helped spark the conversation about what The Clash could look like in the future, but also re-established a traditional kickoff to Speedweeks and the lead-up to the annual Daytona 500.
“I think we’ve heard that from fans as well, where let’s bring it back to Daytona, and that’s something that we really want to make sure we’re continuing to be responsive to,” Giese said. “Being able to take it back to Daytona and build out that Speedweeks schedule, kind of creates some of that. It’s also always an opportunity, too, with The Clash where you can again you can think a bit outside the box. That’s what we did at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, and then throw it back with Bowman Gray, and now essentially throwing it back again to Daytona International Speedway, where it’s been for many, many years should be a really great way to kick off Speedweeks.”
Shifting The Clash also means a move away from Bowman Gray, the historic quarter-mile track that hosts the longest-running weekly racing promotion under NASCAR sanction. Kennedy, who won there during his racing days in what is now called the ARCA Menards Series East, called the stadium special to the sport and his family for “a long list of reasons” and stressed the importance of keeping it on the national series schedule.
Enter the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which will make its Bowman Gray debut next August, coinciding with the end of the racing season for the four divisions that regularly compete at the track known as “The Madhouse.”
“Having the opportunities to be stewards of Bowman Gray and take it to the next generation, we were able to do that through The Clash for the past couple of years,” Kennedy said. “Fans got to see some improvements that we made, and we were all very clear as we approached the Bowman Gray project, there’s so much history and tradition and elements that just make Bowman Gray unique and special that we want to keep intact. I think we’ve been able to do that while also making changes and improvements to it. So whether it’s a new lighting system we put in place, the SAFER walls and catchfence, repaving the track, things like that have certainly continued to enhance a race experience. So we’re excited to go back with the Craftsman Truck Series and bring another national-series event there in the future.”
The addition of Bowman Gray makes the Truck Series slate one of NASCAR’s most varied. The tour will return to the streets of St. Petersburg for its second edition on March 6, and Lime Rock Park will mark its third appearance on the schedule with a July 10 show, all before a regular-season finale on Sept. 5, when Canadian Tire Motorsport Park returns for the first time since 2019.
Giese said the return of the history-steeped road course outside of Toronto was a popular request, based on input throughout the industry. She said she recently attended an IMSA weekend in front of a packed house at CTMP, and she emphasized the need for an international NASCAR national-tour event after a year without.
“That’s certainly a priority for us across any of our national series,” Giese said. “We’ve had a really good, long-standing relationship with the team at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. They have some new ownership as well that has been very eager to continue conversations, and so it’s a conversation we’ve been having over the last year that really allowed us to solidify an opportunity.
“Looking ahead to 2027, I’ll say I’m really excited about where it falls on the schedule. Obviously, that Labor Day weekend is historically its traditional weekend when we raced there previously, but it’s also the last race before the start of The Chase for the Truck Series, so we know the exciting races that CTMP has put on in the past. There’s been some drama, there’s been some excitement, so I think putting it there in the schedule really just puts a light on that even more.”
As tracks and race dates for the 2027 NASCAR schedule are revealed, NASCAR.com will collect each announcement here, with the newest development at the top. Check back for updates throughout the schedule-release process, and view the complete list of confirmed dates in our 2027 NASCAR schedule tracker.
Aug. 26: Final eight tracks reveal 2027 dates to finalize full NASCAR schedule
NASCAR Creative Design
Eight more tracks revealed their race weekend dates for the 2027 season Wednesday morning, finalizing the schedules for all three national series.
Charlotte Motor Speedway headlines with two trips to the Concord, North Carolina, venue on tap, with the 1.5-mile oval hosting all three series over Memorial Day weekend (May 28-30) before a return in The Chase Oct. 15-17. Nashville Superspeedway (June 4-6) and Michigan International Speedway (June 19-20) fall on familiar dates on the calendar during Prime Video’s portion of the Cup Series season.
Cup and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series head west to Sonoma Raceway (July 10-11), the same weekend the Craftsman Truck Series treks north to Lime Rock Park (July 10). It marks the tailgaters’ third consecutive visit to the Connecticut road course.
Two weeks later, all three series convene in Indianapolis for a tripleheader weekend split between two tracks. The Truck Series races at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 23, while the O’Reilly Series and Cup Series battle at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway July 24-25.
Finally, Watkins Glen International solidified its dates after previously announcing a shift to The Chase in May. The Finger Lakes road course will host NASCAR from Sept. 17-19.
Click below to view the full 2027 schedules and scroll this page to catch up on all previously announced dates.
Aug. 25: ‘Race the Base’ Part 2: NASCAR returning to San Diego
NASCAR will go street racing in San Diego for the second consecutive season, announcing a return to Naval Base Coronado in 2027. The Cup Series event on the 3.4-mile, 16-turn Qualcomm Circuit is set for Aug. 1 with coverage airing on TNT Sports.
Naval Base Coronado hosted all three national series this past June as NASCAR shifted its annual street race from Chicago to Southern California. The military base spectacle first served as an America 250 celebration but finds a home on the calendar again next year — the fifth time the Cup Series will race on a street course in the modern era. Additionally, the 2027 race will begin a rotation of future street-course races at military installations.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will also return to Naval Base Coronado for a second season with the preliminary race slated for July 31 on The CW and ESPN App. July 30 will mark a Navy Community Night, with access exclusive to Navy personnel and base members as the O’Reilly Series practices and qualifies.
Corey Heim stormed to his first Cup Series win in San Diego this year, while Austin Hill scored an emotional O’Reilly Series victory for Richard Childress Racing — the organization’s first since the death of Kyle Busch.
Aug. 22: Bowman Gray slated for first national series points race since 1971 with Truck Series visit
After two years as the Cup Series’ season-opening Clash exhibition race, Bowman Gray will find a new home on the NASCAR national series calendar in 2027. The 0.25-mile bullring will host the Craftsman Truck Series for the venue’s first national-series points race in over 50 years.
“The Madhouse” race is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 20, with coverage on FOX Sports, serving as part of a doubleheader with the track’s NASCAR Local Racing Series season finale. It’s slotted as the penultimate regular-season race.
A staple of NASCAR history, Bowman Gray first held NASCAR Convertible Series races in 1956 before welcoming the Cup Series from 1958 to 1971. The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East also held races there in the 2000s and 2010s, while Bowman Gray has otherwise remained a home for key regional short-track races. Bowman Gray also doubles as the home of Winston-Salem State University’s football program.
Aug. 19: Truck Series heads north of the border for first time since 2019
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will return to Canada for the first time in eight years with a trip to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on tap in 2027. The race is slated for Sunday, Sept. 5, with coverage on FOX Sports. It will serve as the key regular-season finale, solidifying the 10 drivers competing in The Chase.
The Truck Series visited the 2.459-mile road course in Bowmanville, Ontario, from 2013 to 2019. NASCAR planned for another trip to the Toronto suburb in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic put the annual north-of-the-border event on pause.
Five of the seven Canadian Tire winners currently drive in the Cup Series, headlined by Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney – who won the first two renditions.
IMSA and the NASCAR Canada Series also make regular stops at the high-speed 10-turn circuit.
NASCAR will again make two stops at Kansas Speedway in 2027, headlined by a Chase tripleheader in early October.
All three series will host key postseason races at the 1.5-mile oval, with Race No. 4 of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase slated for Oct. 3 on USA Sports. The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is slated for Oct. 2 on The CW, while the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opens the weekend on Oct. 1 with coverage on FOX Sports.
Kansas’ springtime weekend will feature a doubleheader with the Cup and Truck Series. Cup Series stars will duke it out on May 9 with coverage on FOX Sports – the 11th points-paying event of the season. The Truck Series race is scheduled for May 8, also on FOX Sports.
NASCAR returns to Kansas Sept. 26-27 this fall for Cup and Truck Series Chase races.
NASCAR is back at one of its most historic venues in 2027, with a June trip to Pocono Raceway on tap. The Cup Series race is slated for June 13 and will be broadcast on Prime Video.
Both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series will also visit the Pennsylvania mountains in 2027. O’Reilly Series drivers will look to tame “Tricky” on June 12 (The CW), with the tailgaters racing June 11 on FOX Sports.
The Cup Series first visited Pocono in 1974 and subsequently once each summer. The 1982 season marked the first year the 2.5-mile triangular track hosted two race weekends, and it remained a twice-annual stop through 2019. Pocono hosted Cup Series doubleheader weekends in 2020 and 2021 before fully transitioning to a single date and race in 2022. The 2026 Cup race marked the fourth grandstand sellout and the sixth-straight camping sellout.
Aug. 18: Chicagoland returns to NASCAR calendar for second straight season
NASCAR’s annual race weekend in the Chicago market will take place at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway for the second year in a row. The Cup Series event is slated for June 27, with coverage airing on Prime Video — the streaming platform’s final race of 2027.
Like 2026, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and ARCA Menards Series will join the fold to round out a three-race weekend. The O’Reilly Series is slated for June 26 with coverage on The CW, while ARCA will go to battle June 25.
Chicagoland first opened its doors to racing in 2001 and remained at least a once-a-year stop on the calendar until 2019. The track sat vacant until this year, when NASCAR returned over Independence Day weekend. Chase Briscoe won a sold-out Cup race, while Brandon Jones visited Victory Lane in the O’Reilly Series.
Aug. 18: Homestead-Miami Speedway confirms return as season-finale host in ’27
All three national series will return to South Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2027 to crown champions. It’ll be the second consecutive season the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wrap their campaigns at the 1.5-mile oval.
The Cup Series race is slated for Nov. 14 with coverage from USA Sports. The O’Reilly Series finale is slated for Nov. 13 on The CW, while the Truck Series concludes its season Nov. 12 with coverage airing on FOX Sports.
Homestead-Miami welcomed Cup Series action starting in 1999. It hosted Championship Weekend for the first time in 2002, and all three series ended their seasons at the track each year through 2019. Beginning in 2020, Championship Weekend shifted to Phoenix Raceway, where it remained through 2025. Homestead-Miami’s date fluctuated between springtime and the playoffs during that six-year pause.
But beginning this fall, the season-finale races are back in South Beach for The Chase, where the Nov. 6-8 weekend will determine who lifts the championship trophies.
Aug. 13: Richmond rolls into Chase as Cup, O’Reilly Series postseason openers
For the first time since 2021, Richmond Raceway will return to the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, serving as the 2027 opener. The River City showdown is slated for Saturday, Sept. 11, with coverage on USA Network.
Richmond’s summer race long marked the final regular-season event during the previous iteration of The Chase and the playoffs, doing so from 2004 to 2017. It first moved into the postseason in 2018. Next year will mark the third consecutive season that the 0.75-mile short track hosts NASCAR once.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will return to Richmond next season after a two-year hiatus, with the Sept. 10 race also slated as the series’ Chase opener. The O’Reilly Series raced at the venue at least once annually from 1982 to 2024.
The Cup Series competes at Richmond this Saturday (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as just three regular-season races remain. Austin Dillon is the two-time defending winner.
Aug. 13: World Wide Technology Raceway shifts to mid-August date
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway will move to August in 2027 after two seasons as a NASCAR Cup Series postseason race. The 1.25-mile oval is slated for the Cup Series’ Enjoy Illinois 300 on Aug. 22, with television coverage on USA Network. It will mark the third-to-last regular-season race.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will additionally visit the St. Louis-area track for the third consecutive season, with the preliminary Nu Way 225 slated for Aug. 21 on The CW.
Next year’s stop at Gateway marks the sixth time the Cup Series will visit the Midwest track. The O’Reilly Series first competed there in 1997, while the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series visited for the first time in 1998 and remained a near-annual stop for the tailgaters until 2024.
The Cup Series visits Gateway later this year on Sept. 13 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with the O’Reilly Series competing Sept. 12 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Aug. 12: ‘Monster Mile’ goes back to being a points race
After a one-year hiatus when it hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race, Dover Motor Speedway will return to points-paying status in the NASCAR Cup Series for 2027. The concrete behemoth known as the “Monster Mile” will run its Cup Series event on May 16, televised on FOX Sports.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will make it a doubleheader weekend with its race occurring on May 15 and being broadcast on The CW.
Denny Hamlin was the winner of the All-Star Race in 2026 at Dover and was the victor in 2025 and 2024 in the previous points-paying Cup races at Dover. The 2027 season will be a chance to see if Hamlin can pull off a unique style of four-peat at the revered Delaware venue.
Aug. 12: All-Star Race returns to North Wilkesboro
The NASCAR All-Star Race will be on the move yet again in 2027, returning to a fan-favorite spot, North Wilkesboro Speedway. The 0.625-mile asphalt oval in the picturesque North Carolina foothills hosted the NASCAR Cup Series’ exhibition event from 2023-2025 before putting on a points-paying race this season when Dover Motor Speedway was the site of the All-Star Race.
But it’s back to Wilkes County for the midsummer classic, with the May 23 prime time event to be televised on FOX Sports. As part of a national-series tripleheader slate, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will race at the track for the first time since 1985, doing so on May 22 and airing on The CW. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, meanwhile, will run on May 21, on FOX Sports.
Kyle Larson (2023), Joey Logano (2024) and Christopher Bell (2025) were past winners of the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, with each taking home the $1 million prize. Logano was also the winner in this season’s Window World 450 in the first points-paying race at the track since 1996.
Aug. 11: More in store for Martinsville Speedway in 2027
The NASCAR schedule is set again to make two visits to historic Martinsville Speedway in 2027, with a springtime showdown bookended by a now-traditional return in the fall as the next-to-last race of the season for all three national series.
The 0.526-mile Virginia track will again tee up NASCAR championship weekend with the penultimate races of 2027 slated Nov. 5-7 for the Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. The Cup and O’Reilly Series will also convene for a doubleheader Martinsville meet on April 17-18.
Martinsville is due for a tripleheader NASCAR weekend this year on Oct. 30-Nov. 1, one week before national-series champions are crowned in the season finales at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Aug. 11: Double dates due up for Darlington, including 2027 regular-season finale
Darlington Raceway is back on the 2027 NASCAR schedule for two dates, including a crucial event that will determine the Cup Series’ Chase field.
The historic 1.366-mile oval will keep its cherished Labor Day weekend slot next year, with the Southern 500 to be run Sunday, Sept. 5. The traditional date also coincides with the end of the Cup Series’ 26-race regular season, with the crown-jewel event primed to set the 16-driver grid in next year’s Chase.
Darlington’s 2027 calendar opens with a tripleheader weekend April 2-4, with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series joining the Cup Series on the springtime bill. The O’Reilly Series returns to the South Carolina venue to take part in the Labor Day festivities, with its regular-season finale scheduled Sept. 4.
This year’s last remaining trip to Darlington will open The Chase for both the Cup and O’Reilly Series, with the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, Sept. 6 (5 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and the Fleetio 200 on Saturday, Sept. 5 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Aug. 10: Las Vegas doubles down with early test, Chase date in 2027
Las Vegas Motor Speedway returns to the 2027 schedule rotation with two NASCAR weekends next year, providing an early-season challenge and a prime spot in The Chase postseason.
The 1.5-mile Nevada track is slated for the fifth Cup Series race of the season on March 21, then returns to the schedule in the 10-race Chase on Oct. 10, slotting in as the fifth event of the NASCAR Cup Series postseason. Both races replicate the Las Vegas track’s placement on the 2026 calendar.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will stage preliminary races at each Las Vegas weekend, with the Oct. 9 visit serving as that circuit’s fourth Chase event.
Both series have postseason dates at Vegas coming up on the 2026 schedule – the South Point 400 for the Cup Series on Oct. 4 (5:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), preceded by the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Focused Health 302 on Oct. 3 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Aug. 6: Star-spangled return to Iowa set for July 4 weekend
Iowa Speedway, site of this weekend’s races, got a jump on next year by announcing that NASCAR will return for a July 4th weekend special in 2027.
The midseason showdown means an Independence Day celebration in the heartland, with the Cup Series hitting the 0.875-mile oval for the 18th of a scheduled 36 points-paying races next year. The circuit will be joined by the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for a preliminary event.
The 2027 visit will mark the fourth time the Cup Series has raced at Iowa Speedway. NASCAR’s premier series convenes at the Newton, Iowa track this weekend for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Additionally, a full repave of the racing surface will begin shortly after the checkered flag falls on this Sunday’s Cup show.
Aug. 6: Talladega two-fer on tap for NASCAR in 2027
NASCAR returns to Talladega Superspeedway for a pair of race weekends next season, including a critical date in the Chase postseason for all three national series in 2027.
A springtime showdown for the Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is set April 24-25, with the ARCA Menards Series also making its annual Talladega visit. That weekend culminates with the ninth race of the Cup Series season, the Jack Link’s 500.
The Craftsman Truck Series joins the other two NASCAR tours for a Chase tripleheader Oct. 29-31, with the YellaWood 500 creating a Halloween bash as the eighth event in the 10-race postseason. The 2027 calendar marks the second consecutive year that Talladega fills a role as the third-to-last race in the season.
This year’s second Talladega trip is scheduled Oct. 23-25. The 2.66-mile Alabama track produced a pair of first-time winners earlier this year, with Carson Hocevar (Cup Series) and Corey Day (O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) breaking through in April.
Aug. 6: New Hampshire returns to Chase rotation next season
NASCAR will soak in fall in New England next year, placing New Hampshire Motor Speedway back in the Chase postseason with a Sept. 25-26 race weekend on the 2027 schedule.
The 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, New Hampshire, will host the third Chase race for the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2027, with broadcast coverage from USA Network. That race follows the opening Chase event for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which has the EJP 175 slotted for Saturday, Sept. 25.
Next year will mark the 16th time that New Hampshire has hosted a postseason Cup Series race.
This year’s NHMS stop comes Aug. 23 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as the next-to-last race in the Cup Series regular season.
Aug. 6: Traditional dog days of August beckon for Bristol Night Race in 2027
Bristol Motor Speedway will return to a traditional date for its under-the-lights showdown next year, setting the annual night race for Aug. 14 on the 2027 NASCAR schedule.
The nighttime event will be the 23rd of 26 races in the Cup Series regular season, capping a tripleheader NASCAR weekend. The 0.533-mile Tennessee track will also host the three NASCAR national series April 9-11 for its yearly springtime event.
Bristol has been part of the postseason rotation since 2020, including this year’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19 (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The evening event has been a fixture on the schedule since 1978, typically occupying a mid- to late-August slot on the NASCAR calendar before its recent shift to a playoff position.
Both race weekends in 2027 will be tripleheaders, with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series joining the bill with the Cup Series next year.
Aug. 5: Chase return, IndyCar combo part of Phoenix’s packed 2027 slate
Phoenix Raceway established its dates for a pair of packed NASCAR weekends next season, with a key crossover event and a pivotal autumn date in The Chase postseason returning to the desert oval in 2027.
The NASCAR Cup Series will share the bill with the NTT IndyCar Series at Phoenix for the second straight year, all during an activity-filled weekend of four races March 12-14. The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (Saturday, March 13) and ARCA Menards Series (Friday, March 12) also join the card, which culminates Sunday, March 14, in the fourth race of the Cup Series season.
All three NASCAR national series will visit the 1-mile Arizona track for Chase events Oct. 22-24, 2027. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opens the action Friday, Oct. 22, with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and ARCA Menards Series West combining for a Saturday doubleheader on Oct. 23. Phoenix’s fall weekend wraps with the Freeway Insurance 500 on Sunday, Oct. 24, when the Cup Series holds the seventh of 10 races in The Chase championship battle.
Phoenix joined the Cup Series schedule in 1988, when Hall of Famer Alan Kulwicki scored his first Cup victory. The Avondale, Arizona, facility has been a part of the Cup Series’ 10-race postseason every year since The Chase format first began in 2004.
Aug. 5: Two Lone Star State trips set for 2027 as COTA, Texas return
NASCAR will make two visits to the Lone Star State next season, with race weekend dates announced Wednesday for Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas and Texas Motor Speedway outside of Fort Worth.
The COTA road course returns for the seventh consecutive year for a March 5-7 weekend with the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in action. The doubleheader concludes with the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix, the Cup Series’ third race of the 2027 season with broadcast coverage by FOX Sports.
The intermediate track, meanwhile, will host the Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in an April 30-May 2 tripleheader weekend. The Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly at the 1.5-mile oval — a regular Cup Series venue since 1997 — will serve as the 10th race of the Cup Series campaign, with FOX Sports also providing coverage.
Aug. 4: Two race weekends on tap for EchoPark Speedway in 2027
EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta will host a pair of NASCAR race weekends next season, with Cup Series events scheduled for Feb. 28 and July 18 in 2027.
The 1.54-mile track, which features superspeedway-style racing on an intermediate-sized circuit, will again be slotted as host of the Autotrader 400, the second points-paying race of the Cup Series schedule with coverage from FOX Sports. Its summertime date, capped by the Cup Series’ Dollar Tree 400, is set to be part of TNT Sports’ Cup Series broadcast schedule.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will join the Cup Series for both Atlanta weekends for the first time since 2008. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is set to visit EchoPark Speedway in February, creating a tripleheader weekend for all three NASCAR national tours. The track indicated that start times will be announced at a later date.
The high-speed Georgia venue has been entrenched on NASCAR’s major-league schedule since 1960. After a 10-year stretch of hosting one Cup Series weekend each season, EchoPark has been the site of two annual stops on the schedule each year since 2021.
Aug. 4: Clash returning to Daytona Speedweeks with new title sponsor
Daytona International Speedway announced its complete 2027 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, including the return of The Clash and dates for the Daytona 500 and Coke Zero Sugar 400.
The newly named Wheatley Vodka Clash will open Speedweeks presented by AdventHealth on Sat., Feb. 13. The preseason exhibition returns to Daytona for the first time since 2021, when it was last run on the road-course configuration.
The 69th annual Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sun., Feb. 21, while the Coke Zero Sugar 400 will return as Daytona’s summer Cup Series event on Sat., Aug. 28. The Clash’s format and eligibility standards will be announced at a later date.
July 23: Craftsman Truck Series returning to St. Petersburg
Street racing will return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2027.
The series will compete Sat., March 6, on the 1.8-mile temporary circuit in St. Petersburg, Florida, sharing the weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series’ Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 7.
The announcement follows the Truck Series’ inaugural visit to the street course in 2026, when Layne Riggs scored the victory. Event promoters indicated that ticket sales will begin in the fall.
Watkins Glen International will return to a more traditional portion of the calendar in 2027.
The track’s NASCAR Cup Series weekend will move from its May placement to September and one of the earliest positions in the 10-race Chase. An exact race date has not yet been announced.
The move will also return a road course to the postseason after the Charlotte Motor Speedway fall race shifted from the Roval to the oval configuration for 2026.
February 9: Homestead expected to retain championship weekend
Homestead-Miami Speedway is expected to remain the site of NASCAR’s championship weekend in 2027.
NASCAR has indicated that it eventually plans to rotate the season finale, but NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde said in February that the plan was to return to Homestead next season before considering a rotation in future years.
The 2027 NASCAR national series schedules are complete.
All dates for the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series have been announced. Time to start making your plans! Start times, TV network designations and additional event details will be added when they become available.
Chandler Smith and Carson Brown will join Richard Childress Racing to pilot its NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series entries in 2027, the team announced Wednesday.
Smith will drive the No. 21 Chevrolet for RCR on a multiyear agreement beginning next season, replacing Austin Hill as he departs for the team’s No.33 NASCAR Cup Series program full time. Brown will step into the No. 2 Chevrolet on a multiyear agreement in place of Jesse Love, who will also join the Cup ranks in 2027 with Wood Brothers Racing. The No. 21 will get backing from 1-800-PACK-RAT as anchor primary sponsor on a multiyear deal while the No. 2 will continue a longstanding partnership with Whelen.
Smith returns to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series to join RCR after spending the 2025 and ’26 seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series. The Georgia native completed two full seasons in the O’Reilly Series in 2023 and 2024 with Kaulig Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, respectively, collecting three wins — two at Richmond Raceway and one at Phoenix Raceway. Smith finished fifth in the 2024 season standings before departing for the Truck Series.
In two campaigns with Front Row Motorsports’ No. 38 truck team, Smith has amassed four victories, two of which have come this season. The 24-year-old currently sits third in the points standings as the tailgaters enter The Chase.Smith holds nine total Truck Series wins dating back to his first full campaign in 2021. He earned a career-high three victories in 2022 before finishing third in the final standings that year.
“I’m really thankful for this opportunity and for the people who have believed in me and helped me get to this point,” Smith said in a team release. “First and foremost, I want to give all the glory to God. He’s opened a lot of doors for me throughout my career, and I know none of this happens without Him. I’m also thankful for my family and everybody who has stood behind me through the ups and downs. To get this opportunity with Richard Childress Racing means a lot to me.”
Brown joined RCR’s driver development program in November 2025 as a 17-year-old. In eight starts in the ARCA Menards Series national division this season, Brown has posted remarkable numbers, leading every lap of his debut to win at Phoenix in March with just one finish worse than third and no start worse than fifth. Brown has also won three pole positions, including his debut and earlier in the summer at Lime Rock Park and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Brown tested an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series car for the first time in July at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The North Carolina native made his series debut on Aug. 8 at Iowa Speedway driving the No. 32 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing, earning a 15th-place finish.
“I’m incredibly grateful to everyone at Richard Childress Racing and Whelen for believing in me,” Brown said in a team release. “This is something I’ve dreamed about for as long as I can remember, and I know how rare and special it is to be in this position. What an absolute honor to drive for Richard Childress, and to be able to represent Whelen, an American-made brand that has invested so much into motorsports over the years.”
Both of RCR’s current O’Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers have locked into the 2026 Chase. Love and the No. 2 team sit fourth in the standings with one race remaining in the regular season, 299 points behind series leader Justin Allgaier as Love attempts to defend his 2025 title. Hill and the No. 21 team are seventh in points with two wins this season. Hill has split time between the O’Reilly and Cup series this season, slotting into the renumbered No. 33 Chevrolet in Cup after the tragic death of Kyle Busch in May.
Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series detailing the No. 7 JR Motorsports team in 2026. Read Part II here.
When Jim Pohlman decided to leave JR Motorsports after three seasons as Justin Allgaier’s crew chief in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the 2024 champion had one request: Keep the core of the No. 7 team together.
“We weren’t sure what to do with Overstreet,” Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of JR Motorsports, told NASCAR.com. “We had a couple of different ways we could have went about putting our teams out for this year as far as drivers and crew chiefs. I’m glad we went with what we did because Overstreet has found a really badass situation with Justin and it’s worked. I don’t know what Overstreet would be doing if he didn’t get that opportunity.”
Overstreet’s 2025 campaign was a mixed bag, leading the way for rookie Carson Kvapil. The No. 1 team made it to the Championship 4, but Kvapil went winless, while fellow rookie Connor Zilisch won a league-best 10 races.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve worked with a lot of rookies,” Overstreet said. “I think there was a lot of people frustrated because they saw what the other rookie did, and that leads to unrealistic expectations a lot of times. You can sit there and beat yourself up, but at the end of the day, I had to right the ship.
“When you get to the point where you feel like you should have won by now, sometimes there is finger-pointing. It’s tough to try to make it right.”
Overstreet, whose brother Tyler was a longtime public relations representative for Earnhardt, has deep ties to both the Earnhardts and Hendrick Motorsports. He grew up in the NASCAR hub, native to Concord, North Carolina, a hop-and-a-skip away from Charlotte Motor Speedway and had family who worked within the Hendrick walls. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a mechanical engineering degree, and many of his classes met in UNCC’s Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory.
While navigating the college lifestyle, Overstreet secured an internship at Hendrick. He did odds and ends with the hope of getting to the race track. Upon graduating, he had a role with Jimmie Johnson’s 2006 championship-winning team.
Overstreet needed a full-time gig and departed Hendrick for Red Bull Racing in 2007, working in the R&D department as the data engineer while testing with Brian Vickers, AJ Allmendinger and Mike Skinner. He made stops at a handful of other teams before returning to the Hendrick pipeline at JRM, including Michael Waltrip Racing, Turner Motorsports, Red Horse Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing and Team Penske.
Upon returning to JRM in 2023, a directive from Earnhardt led to Overstreet having a direct approach in his first of two starts of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“Dale pulled me aside whenever he was going to run Bristol, and he told me, ‘I want you to have your hands on this car,’ ” Overstreet said. “Dale had a shot to win and caught fire. It was a lot of fun, and I think that opened people’s eyes.”
That success led to a part-time opportunity in 2024, with Overstreet named the crew chief of JRM’s part-time fifth entry. Zilisch won in his series debut at Watkins Glen International, and Kvapil scored a trio of top fives in nine starts.
“We did a lot with a little, and it led to what we had last year,” Overstreet said of 18 attempts as a leader in 2024. “We didn’t win any races, but we finished top four in the championship with a guy who had no heavy stock-car experience before that. A lot of people would say that’s actually a win.”
Last September, JRM hired NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers as the new leader of the No. 1 entry, splitting time between Kvapil and Zilisch. That left Overstreet in the dark until rumblings began that Pohlman would leave the organization to seek Cup opportunities.
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Whether Overstreet would get a shot with Allgaier was pending. But if he was relegated to the part-time entry yet again, he had one motive.
“When they made the announcement with Rodney, I told Dale that I’m fine just making the fifth car better than ever,” Overstreet said. “We will make sure it’s not a hindrance to the team and the organization, and we will make sure we win races.”
Less than a week after the 2025 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, Overstreet recalls a conversation with Allgaier. The savvy veteran knew the crew chief paid his dues and gave him words of wisdom along the way. In 2011, he interviewed to be Allgaier’s lead engineer at Turner.
“We sat down, and I told him I don’t care what you do, but I know I believe in everything that you can do and I know that this team is capable of it,” Overstreet said of that conversation. “If I got the opportunity, the sky is the limit.”
Switching crew chiefs comes with unknowns. Both parties are north of 40 but have a lot left in the tank. Allgaier quickly realized Overstreet would fill in smoothly.
“I’ve raced against Andrew and have been teammates with Andrew for a long time, but until you get down to brass tacks and start to work with somebody, you don’t know what to expect,” Allgaier said. “Andrew came in and plugged and played really easily. Some crew chiefs come in and want to change things immediately and put their own stamp on it. Andrew was able to come in and fine-tune, tweak the details of what we already had that was good and made it even better.”
Allgaier leads the series in most statistical categories in 2026. He has the most wins (six), top fives (14), top 10s (17) and laps led (559). He clinched the No. 1 seed for The Chase with three regular-season contests remaining after winning his sixth race of the year at EchoPark Speedway.
“We still have our goals, and we’ve talked all year of just putting another brick on the pile each week,” Overstreet said. “We’re building that championship, and that hasn’t changed. We’re focused on one week at a time, and we know the end goal is that big trophy.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — An exceptionally small number of people can impact the world through their life’s work and continue to do so in a legacy thereafter.
Betty Jane France not only helped foster the sport of NASCAR alongside her husband Bill France Jr. in its vital early years, but she found a way to cultivate the heart of the sport – its people — well into perpetuity.
Mention her name in racing circles and the response is immediate: A huge grin and a tale of France’s generosity followed by a story of gratitude for her work and mission.
“I give my sister-in-law, Betty Jane, the credit for really helping spearhead that direction,’’ NASCAR Chairman Jim France said. “As a family, we have been contributing and still do individually. But she had the vision to try and bring something together for our entire sport that could contribute to the needs of many.”
As founders and leaders of one of America’s great sports leagues, it’s easy to first consider the France family in terms of their work on the race track. But Betty Jane France, who died in 2016 at age 78, created a masterful and loving vestige in the communities — both big cities and small towns – surrounding the tracks; and, by extension, the areas nearby.
She essentially tipped the first block, and her work has resonated ever since.
The Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award – which honors volunteers and charities for their work — has been a bright star in the sport and beyond for the last 15 years. Its recipients are honored yearly at the championship celebration and provided additional funding to both continue the work and raise the profile.
The four 2026 finalists for the Betty Jane Humanitarian Award were announced just this month and include a longtime leader of a New York food pantry, a volunteer of a Richmond, Virginia, Ronald McDonald House, the founder of a Florida organization that supports families of fallen service members and the founder of a two-decades old foundation committed to providing free medical care for pediatric cancer patients in memory of his young son.
These people and their life’s missions are indicative of what France’s work means and show an unmistakable common theme in her legacy – making a difference in the lives of kids and families.
“My mom felt like every child deserved a chance,’’ France’s daughter and NASCAR’s Executive Vice Chair Lesa France Kennedy said. “They deserve a healthy life. They deserve to be heard and to be seen. And she saw that opportunity. It was extremely important to her.”
The NASCAR Foundation, which Betty Jane France established, just celebrated 20 years of work in the community, having raised millions of dollars and provided a very direct and lasting impact on kids and their families.
“I think my mother will always be remembered for her heart,’’ France Kennedy said. “I think The NASCAR Foundation was the start of that and the start of the example that she showed to everyone.
“I also think that it shows everyone that they have an opportunity. They can find their passion, just as my mom did with The NASCAR Foundation, and they can live that and make a difference.”
Seeing the joy on the kids’ faces or the tears in the eyes of people called to and able to make that difference in their communities is impactful.
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Those were the reactions just this summer as NASCAR rolled into San Diego for its first-ever street race on the famed Naval Base Coronado, allowing a whole “new” group of people to see France’s legacy of care in action.
A joyfully chaotic scene featuring more than 100 children of United States servicemen and women who participated in The NASCAR Foundation’s Speediatrics Fun Day Festival, a weeklong curriculum culminating with a NASCAR-themed obstacle course on race weekend, and were then surprised with brand new bicycles and helmets. Brightly colored balloons framed a huge sign that hung high across the crowded San Diego race midway, proclaiming, “This isn’t just a race, it’s a mission.’’
And indeed it has been.
“It’s the synergy that Betty Jane kind of led the charge on and asked others [to do the same] for the Foundation,’’ said NASCAR Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor Mike Helton, who stopped by the San Diego event, soaking in the smiles.
“The bigger and broader part, in addition to millions of dollars of help with children that need help, whether it’s medically or, quality of life, is that it was also a statement made that NASCAR, everywhere we go – and our footprint is across America — everywhere we go, we’re still a local community-driven event.”
“Everybody’s got their own interests, but you’ve seen this whole sport industry come to this cause,’’ he added. “I’d like to think that The NASCAR Foundation was the seed of that saying, ‘you can organize this and do bigger and better.’ And we’ve seen the industry do that over the last 20 years.”
It’s a passion of giving that has permeated the sport. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell has unfailingly found his experiences reaching out on behalf of The NASCAR Foundation to be powerful and lasting. Like so many of NASCAR’s stars, Bell views any opportunity to do something on behalf of the foundation as a privilege.
“It’s heartwarming and humbling experience anytime you visit a children’s hospital,’’ Bell said. “And being able to bring a little joy to a child’s day means the world to me. The NASCAR Foundation does an amazing job spreading the love of racing across the country and giving us the opportunity to spend time with these kids and their families.
“I’ve been lucky to be a small part of what they’re doing.’’
It’s one thing to have grand ideas and sincere purpose, but it’s another to put them into action. And it is yet another to have that work prosper exponentially.
One of France’s dear friends, NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace, was an immediate and ardent supporter of The NASCAR Foundation. The 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion still smiles when he recalls France asking him to be an active voice as the organization first began. And the famously candid driver still smiles about it.
“She laughed and said, ‘Well, you’re non-controversial now, since you’re not a driver,’ ’’ Wallace shared with a grin. “But, you know, I really saw her passion and I really got passionate about helping raise money for children and doing these causes. And it just got bigger and bigger for me. I really enjoy it. I feel doing it is really meaningful and appreciated by people
“That’s how I’m so involved in it. And I don’t see myself backing off.”
Adds Jim France: “It’s a community effort by everybody within the sport. And it makes you proud of our folks and people that participates.”
It’s indicative of how Betty Jane wrapped personality, heart and commitment into a legacy that so lovingly reverberates still today.
“Betty Jane was charming, beautiful, intelligent and she played her role in NASCAR to perfection,’’ NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip said of France when she passed away in 2016. “She was the right person to do all she had to do. Just a great lady.”
And she lived the lessons in generosity her actions perpetually taught others.
“My mom was the one that spearheaded that for our family,’’ France Kennedy said. “She set the example. She was the role model, and we’re all hopeful that we can continue it with the vision that she started.”
Helton has no doubt that is the case.
“She would be very happy, very proud, and maybe a little bit surprised,’’ Helton said of how France’s work continues to thrive and make a difference in the world all these years later. “We sit around sometimes and talk about different business elements in the sport. What would Bill [France] Sr. think about this moment that we were participating in, or what would Bill Jr. think?
“And you know, on the foundation side, when we’ve just come off an event having 300 bicycles delivered or shoes for kids who don’t have shoes.
“Nichole [Krieger] will say to me often, ‘I wonder what Betty Jane would think,’ ’’ he said of the longtime NASCAR Foundation executive director. “And I tell her, ‘Betty Jane would be proud.’ She would be very pleased with that seed that she planted to grow into such a beautiful forest.”
Her perpetual light is still shining brightly upon it all.
For the first time since 2021, Richmond Raceway will return to the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, serving as the 2027 opener. The River City showdown is slated for Saturday, Sept. 11, with coverage on USA Network.
Iowa Speedway, site of this weekend’s races, got a jump on next year by announcing that NASCAR will return for a July 4th weekend special in 2027.
NASCAR returns to Talladega Superspeedway for a pair of race weekends next season, including a critical date in the Chase postseason for all three national series in 2027.
